


Beginnings

by calenlily



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Gen, Misses Clause Challenge, Pre-Canon, Pre-Het
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 18:17:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/298650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calenlily/pseuds/calenlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dragons!" someone shouted. "Dragons!"</p><p>She couldn't help looking up in reaction to the cries. Sure enough, there were dragons in the sky. What could dragonriders want with their isolated little farmcrafthold?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Edo no Hana (Edonohana)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edonohana/gifts).



> *sheepish look* I actually started writing this treat for Yuletide two years ago, never finished it, and then when I started thinking about this Yuletide this year the plot bunny reached out and grabbed me again. So it's not exactly based on your current request, but I'm hoping you'll still appreciate it.
> 
> Many thanks to my beta, moviemom44.

"Dragons!" someone shouted. "Dragons!"

She couldn't help looking up in reaction to the cries. Sure enough, there were dragons in the sky - bright green, deep blue, and a big brown that dwarfed his companions - and they were circling down towards the hold.

What was this about? It wasn't a Threadfall day - if it were, no one would have been out here, and there would be considerably more than three dragons. So what could dragonriders want with their isolated little farmcrafthold?

She frowned, wondering, but reluctantly tore her eyes from the sky. She had work to do, and pondering questions that were none of her concern would not accomplish anything.

Just as she was starting to regain her concentration, she was interrupted again as a second cry went up. "The dragons come on Search!"

People streamed out from the fields and outbuildings towards Gather clearing in the main hold in excitement. She hesitated. It wasn't that she hadn't dreamed, as every child on Pern had, of being chosen by the dragons. She had.

But for all that such dreams tempted her, she had twenty-one Turns in age already; she was getting old for childhood fantasies, and what were the chances she would ever be picked? Most likely she would only be losing valuable time.

"Come on!" Another of the girls, face flushed with excitement, grabbed her arm as she passed. She had no choice but to follow.

They were among the last to arrive where a crowd was milling. The riders had already dismounted, the brown rider announcing their intentions and making introductions to their holder.

She was too late and too far back in the crowd to hear much, but in murmurs between one person and the next, the information quickly sifted back to her: the riders were from Benden Weyr and they were Searching for boys of between twelve and twenty Turns, and also for girls to Stand for a golden egg.

She frowned. Benden? Weren't they beholden to Ista? Then again, she supposed that was no matter to her.

The adults who had turned out simply for the rare opportunity to see dragons up close moved back, ushering the younger children to follow them. Soon only those of an age to be candidates were grouped towards the center of the Gather clearing for the dragons to inspect them.

 _Perhaps_ , a voice echoed in her mind. She shook her head, not sure where it had come from. It certainly wasn't _her_ thought; she wasn't even sure what it meant. As further comments filtered into her awareness, she realized she must have been hearing the dragons discussing the young people gathered for their assessment. She stifled a gasp.

Surely that wasn't normal, was it?

"Did you hear that?" she hissed at the girl next to her, but was met with a blank look.

So startled was she by that new development that she hardly even noticed the great brown extending his wedge-head towards her until she heard him say quite confidently, _This one._

She heard herself murmur disbelievingly, "What, _me_?" - not that anyone seemed to notice - and stumbled back involuntarily in surprise.

"Stand forward, girl; don't be shy," a voice - a voice that she realized was much like the dragon's, though not quite as mellow - urged her.

She looked up to find the brown's rider was at her side. Looking at him, all she could think of was that he was all she imagined a dragonrider would look like, tall and fit in his heavy wherhide jacket, that he was quite the handsomest man she'd ever met, and that he had kind eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked gently.

"Brekke," she said, and was embarrassed to realize that she was blushing. Thankfully, the dragonman didn't seem to notice.

"Well, Brekke, my Canth seems to have taken a liking to you," he said. 

***

She was whisked away from her old life so fast she hardly knew what was going on. One moment the brown rider was formally announcing her selection as a queen rider candidate to her Holder. Then, the very next instant it seemed to her, she was casting a critical eye over her belongings, trying to pack the most essential items into a small carisak as quickly as possible so as not to keep the dragonriders waiting. Then the brown rider - F'nor; she wasn't quite sure when she caught his name, but thankfully she had at some point, else she would have been rather embarrassed - was setting her up in front of him on the neck of his dragon. The thrill of rising into the air took her breath away - as did the unnervingly complete lack of sight and sensation of Between, but Canth's voice was reassuring in her mind, and she did not panic. And then there was the Weyr spread out below, the wide bowl with the glimmering jewel of the lake set in it, dragons of all colors dotting the ledges as small figures that conveyed a scale she could hardly begin to comprehend.

After that she was passed off to the Weyr's Headwoman, joining various other new arrivals. She knew that at some point in the course of that day she'd been given a run-down on life as a candidate and introduced to the other girls who would Stand as candidates for the queen egg, but she took in very little of it. She was frustrated to find herself so dazed and disoriented, for she liked to be useful and that was next to impossible when she was in such a state. However, the rest of the girls seemed to be some combination of dazed, disoriented, and awestruck themselves, so at least she was in good company.

So far from everything familiar all at once, it felt like her previous home was another world entirely, and she was beginning an entirely new life. She couldn't begin to imagine what the future would bring, but she couldn't help feeling it was the start of something good.


End file.
